Risk and Decision Making in Safeguarding Adults and Children unit
- This unit focuses on enhancing students’ understanding of the contextual nature of professional safeguarding practice via enhancing the role of critical reflection as a potential research tool.
- The content of the unit provides an additional theoretical framework to health and social care practitioners and students extend their knowledge base into socio-economic and legal policy analysed via social theory. This enhances clinical knowledge and provides health practitioners with the shared theoretical basis necessary for joined-up working with social care colleagues.
Development of the unit content and assessment was informed by the ‘Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel; analysis and reflection on English safeguarding practice’ (Dept of Education, 2021) and the ‘Professional curiosity in safeguarding adults: Strategic Briefing’ (Research in Practice, 2020). Both documents highlight the importance of enabling practitioners to develop ‘professional curiosity’ and the ability to ‘read between the lines’ of multiple sources of information to enhance decision making in their safeguarding adults and children practice.
The review of Safeguarding Practice with Children and Families (Dept of Education, 2021) identified critical thinking as a key theme within its analysis, particularly as part of the reflective process. Research suggests unhealthy patterns of practice may become entrenched within an organisational culture (Research in Practice, 2020), and such environments may numb professional curiosity, creating a negative reflective space for practice to occur. Critical thinking, particularly as part of reflective education/CPD, provides a framework for practitioners to develop and exercise analytical skills.